Cutter-bar for reapers and mowers



(No Model.)

J. D. NORRIS.

CUTTER BAR FOR REAPERS AND MOWERS.

INVENTOR Patented Oct 2, 1888.

WITNESSES up Zia? wZZ llnrrnn dramas PATENT @rrrcn.

JOSEPH D. NORRlS, OF LA FORTE, INDIANA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 390,510, dated October2, 1888.

Application filed March 21, 1898. Serial No. 269.022. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JosErH D. NORRIS, a citizen of theUnited States,residing at La Porte, in the county of La Porto and State of Indiana,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Cutter-Bars for Reapersand Mowers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in the class of cutter-bars inwhich the knives are in the form of separate cutters and are separatelyremovable for purposes of sharpening and substitution in case offracture by others.

The objects of my improvement are to cause the rear ends of the cuttersto extend beyond the bar to which they are attached and afford anadditional bearingsurfacc for the cutterbar upon the finger-bar on whichit is reciprocated, to reduce the friction-surface thus produced of thecutter-bar upon the finger-bar, and thereby also render the deviceself-cleaning in the sense that in its reciprocating movement itoperates to scrape the surface of the finger-bar, which supports it, andthereby automatically loosens any dirt or other foreign.

matter that may accumulate, as hereinafter described, and the cuttersreadily separable when gummcd together or held together by corrosion,and to render the cutters interchange able.

My invention consists in the construction hereinafter described andclaimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a broken plan view of myimprovedcutter-bar; Fig. 2, asimilar View, partly sectional, showing part of theupper strip broken away to display details of construction; Fig. 3, arear edge view of a broken portion of the device; Fig. 4-, a view likethat presented in Fig. 2, showinga different form; Fig. 5, a sectiontaken on the line5 5 of Fig. I, viewed in the direction of the arrow andpresenting a detail of construction; and Fig. 6, asection of thecutterbar in place on the finger-bar.

A A are two metal strips rigidly secured together to extend parallel toeach other and held apart by means of pins or rivets 1', passed atpredetermined intervals through both strips and secured from withdrawalat their opposite ends.

B B are the cutters, of an ordinary form as to their V-shaped cuttingedges and straight, lateral, and rear edges, and the rear edges of thecutter are provided with angular slots q, preferably of the L, shapeillustrated, and near the lateral edges of the cutters to coincide attheir perpendicular portions with the pins 1'. The part of each cutterbounded by the straight edges thereof is wider in the direction towardthe rear edge than the transverse section of the strips A and A, inorder that the rear edges of the cutters may project beyond or behindthe strips to cause the projecting parts to afford a slottedbearing-surface for the cutterbar, as hereinafter stated.

The cutters B are adjusted between the strips by inserting them betweenthe latter in a manner to cause each to engage at the perpendie ularportion of its slots (1' with two adjacent pins, 1', and forcing themlaterally when the horizontal portions of the slots have been broughtcoincident with the pins to cause the latter to enter such horizontalportions.

The cutter B at the inner end of the series of removable cutters isformed, as usual, on the knife-head O, which is rigidly secured to thestrip A, as is common.

Each removable cutter B is adjusted in the manner described, wherebythat adjacent to the rigid cutter B is caused to abut against thelatter, and other adjacentones abut laterally against each other attheir straight edges. The last cutter, B, however, or that farthest fromthe heel or inner end of the cutter-bar at which the power forreciprocating it is at tached, differs somewhat in construction andmanner of adjustment from the others. As shown in Figs. 1, 2, and .3, itis notslottedlike the other cutters, but is provided with tworectangular openings,r, Fig. 5, to coincide with similar coincidentopeningsin the strips Aand A, and when the cutter B is adjusted keys 1)are driven in, whereby the last cutter is wedged laterally, and therebyfirmly binds the others between it and the stationary cutter B.

To loosen the cutters, as for permitting the removal of one or more, ortheir transposition, for a purpose hereinafter described, the keys havefirst to be dislodged, which in volves an operation attended with somediffistraight edges extend beyond the strips A and A sufficiently far tocause the under sides of the projecting portions to afford abearingsurface for the cutter-bar,which thus rests and is reciprocatedupon the surface afforded by the rear portions of the cutters. Theadvantage of this construction is fourfold. As the wear upon thefriction-surface is greatest toward the end of the cutter-bar oppositethat at which the drivingpower is applied, it will wear unevenly---thatis to say, more toward the free end than toward the opposite endwhereby,with time and use, the bearingsurfaces of the cutters toward the freeend of the device will wear off by the friction, or, at least, wear sothin as to render the cutters useless. \Vhile I do not, by means of myimproved construction, obviate this wear resultant from the friction, itenables me to prolong the usefulness of an entire set of cutters bytransposing as frequently as may be desirable those most worn into thepositions of those least worn,and vice versa. The second advantagereferred to is due to the slots in the projecting or bearing portions ofthe cutters, the edges of which, in the reciprocating movement of thedevice, operate to scrape the surface upon which. the cutter-bar issupported, and thereby loosen the dirt, gum from the grain, and othermatter that tends to accumulate and impede the reciprocating action,which may from time to time, as occasion requires, be brushed oft. The

third and fourth advantages referred to are incidental to theconstruction to which the sec ond advantage, thus explained, is due. Theslots, which are about three-sixteenths of an inch wide, are produced byremoving from the bearing surface of a cutter bar having alengt h offourfeet about seven linear inches, or nearly one-seventh of the materialforming it, thereby materially reducing the friction, and when thecutters are stuck together by corrosion from exposure they may bereadily separated, when it is desired to loosen them for purposes ofremoval, by inserting any piece of wood or metal that may be at handinto a slot, q, and striking it.

The rivets or pins which secure the parallel strips A and A together andhold them apart are, comparatively speaking, close together, and thusrender the two strips, practically, a solid bar,suf[icieutly rigid toavoid Warping or springing by the strain to which it is subjected inoperating and any consequentefiect upon the smoothness of its movements.The cutter-bar of my improved construction, which I have used in thefield, works almost noiselessly.

WhatI claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a cutterbar, the combination of two parallel strips, A and A, rigidlysecured together and having a space between,transverse pins r, atdesired distances apart, removable cutters 13, having angular slots qextending into the cutters from the rear to engage the pins, the cuttersprojecting rearwardly beyond the parallel strips to afford a slottedbearing-surface for the cutter'bar, aperforated cutter, B", having anangular slot, q, and a key, 10, to eX tend through perforations in theparallel strips and the perforation in the cutter B and wedge the cutterin place,substantially as described.

JOSEPH D. NORRIS. In presence of MORTIMER NYE, IRA C. NYE.

